Eagles-Saints snap counts: Vic Fangio goes with more Brandon Graham and less Bryce Huff

Playing time analysis.

The official snap counts from the Philadelphia Eagles’ Week 3 win over the New Orleans Saints are in! Let’s take a look and run through some analysis.

OFFENSE

• Jordan Mailata still hasn’t missed a snap since October 30, 2022.
• Jahan Dotson played the most of any pass-catcher. He saw just three targets for two catches and eight yards. That puts him at five targets for three catches and 14 yards in three games this season. Dotson did play a key role in the (legal) pick play that got Dallas Goedert wide open for his 61-yard catch-and-run late in the game. Dotson will obviously be required to produce more as a receiver if both A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith can’t play in Week 4.
• Dallas Goedert was awesome; he caught 10 of his 11 targets for 170 yards. It’s pretty crazy that the Eagles only managed to get him four targets in Week 2. Jalen Hurts and the coaches need to force feed him the ball, especially if they’re missing one or two of their top wide receivers.
• Tyler Steen had to step in at right guard for Mekhi Becton, who left the game with a finger injury. Steen seemed to hold up well. Ditto for Fred Johnson, who filled in at right tackle for a concussed Lane Johnson. This was Fred Johnson’s highest snap count percentage played since he was with the Cincinnati Bengals in December 2021. After the game, he said he was feeling emotional.
• After logging 26 touches in each of his first two games, Saquon Barkley had just 21 in this game. Despite this, he had his top game in terms of yards from scrimmage with 156.
• DeVonta Smith likely would’ve played the entire game (or very close to it) had the refs done a better job of blowing his forward progress dead and not exposing him to a late hit from the Saints that resulted in him getting concussed.
• Parris Campbell saw the third-most WR snaps with A.J. out and both DeVonta and Britain Covey getting hurt in this game. His two targets resulted in two catches for 13 yards. Campbell might have to play a big role in Week 4.
• Grant Calcaterra played his lowest snap count percentage this season despite the Eagles being decimated at wide receiver. Calcaterra stood out in a bad way; he really struggled as a blocker.
• Johnny Wilson’s playing time increased a little due to the WR injuries.
• Kenny Gainwell’s playing time was in line with where it was at in Week 1. He did not log a carry (first time in a game he played in since Week 16 of the 2022 season) but he did see three targets that resulted in two catches for 12 yards.
• With Calcaterra struggling as a blocker, one can wonder if the Eagles want to get Jack Stoll more involved since he’s the superior option in that capacity. Of course, he’s not as good of a pass catcher as Calcaterra.
• Britian Covey seems to be on track to head to injured reserve with an injury that reportedly could cause him to miss at least six weeks.
• The Eagles had Reed Blankenship line up deep in the backfield for victory formation in case of a fumbled that would require him to make a tackle. They also used him like this in a game last year.

DEFENSE

• Blankenship is the only Eagles defender who hasn’t missed a snap this season.
• After taking a step back in Week 2, Zack Baun was back to flying around and making plays in Week 3. Baun led the Eagles with 13 total tackles (nine solo). Baun is up to 37 combined tackles this season, which ranks second in the NFL only behind Nick Cross (39). Baun’s previous season-high for tackles was 30, which he had in both 2021 and 2023. Through three games with the Eagles, he’s already seven beyond that mark.
• C.J. Gardner-Johnson didn’t miss a snap against his former team despite being ruled questionable to play after not practicing due to a foot injury on Thursday and Friday.
• Jalen Carter’s previous single game career-high snap count percentage was the 80% he played against the Buffalo Bills last year. He was at 89% in this game and it’s not hard to understand why he played so much when he was kicking ass and wrecking the Saints’ offense. Carter was credited with three solo tackles, two TFLs, two pass deflections (the only two of his career!), and one quarterback hit. But his impact clearly went beyond the box score.
• Darius Slay left the game early after Trevor Penning was a total jerk and blocked him into the ground way out of bounds after the play was clearly over. Slay tweeted that he’s OK and not seriously hurt.
• Milton Williams notched two TFLs. Another good showing from him as he took the second-most DT snaps. This was the highest snap count percentage of Williams’ career, topping the 63% he played against the New York Jets last season.
• Brandon Graham played 47.8% of the Eagles’ snaps in Week 1 and 45.9% in Week 2. Vic Fangio ramped the 15-year veteran up to 62.5% in Week 3. That’s the highest snap count percentage BG has played since he was at 70% in Week 18 of the 2022 season. One has to wonder if BG can handle this workload over the course of the season but, hey, maybe he’s able to empty the tank in his final year. BG was such a key player for the Eagles in this game, playing a role in the Eagles’ fourth down stop for a turnover on downs in addition to getting the quarterback hit on Derek Carr on his interception to Reed Blankenship. BG still very much rules. Not ideal that the coaching staff has to rely on him as the team’s top edge rusher but that’s not his fault.
• Josh Sweat did a nice job of generating some pressure. He has three quarterback hits in three games this year. He still only has one sack (from the playoff loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers) in his last 12 games, which is not good.
• Less nickel defense in this game meant less Avonte Maddox. Maddox playing nearly the entire game like he did in the first two weeks just doesn’t seem ideal.
• Jordan Davis was DT3 in this game. He notched his first sack since having half a sack in Week 7 of last season. It was his first game with a full sack since Week 2 last season. And just the second game in his career where he’s had a full sack. Davis was also credited with his first TFL since Week 2 of last season. Can he build on this performance?
• Nolan Smith ranked seventh on the team in total tackles with three despite playing the 13th-most snaps of any defender. He was the third edge rusher behind BG and Sweat.
• Bryce Huff officially started the game but he played his lowest snap count percentage after previously being at 44.8% in Week 1 and 52.5% in Week 2. From an investment standpoint, not good to see the Eagles’ top free agent signing playing a small role and having no positive impact (zero stats logged for the second game in a row and thus still just at one assisted tackle and no other stats this season). From a coaching standpoint, good job by Fangio to take him off the field. The defense sure looked better with Huff less involved. This was Huff’s lowest snap count percentage since he was at 22% in Week 3 last season.
• Kelee Ringo saw playing time with Slay leaving early. Certainly notable that he entered the game ahead of Isaiah Rodgers.
• Thomas Booker didn’t see much of an increase in playing time despite looking good in a small sample size in Week 2. Still, he managed to deflect a pass.

SPECIAL TEAMS

• No Cooper DeJean on defense. He did take over for Covey as the Eagles’ punt returner.
• Isaiah Rodgers played his first NFL regular season snaps since December 2022. He was active for Week 2 but he did not play at all. He had a minor special teams role in this game.
• Two snaps is the second-lowest total of Jake Elliott’s career (not counting one game he missed in 2022). He played just one snap in the Eagles’ regular season finale in 2017.

DID NOT PLAY

INACTIVE: A.J. Brown, Devin White, Tanner McKee, Darian Kinnard, Trevor Keegan, Byron Young, Eli Ricks

ACTIVE: Kenny Pickett

• Brown missed his second straight game. It’s unclear if he’ll be able to return in Week 4. Seems like he’ll be back by Week 6 (after the Week 5 bye) at the latest.
• White was a healthy scratch for the second game in a row. It’s looking like he’ll be inactive for his return to Tampa in Week 4.
• McKee, Kinnard, Keegan, and Young haven’t been active this season. Depending on how the Becton/Lane Johnson injuries shake out, we could soon see Kinnard and/or Keegan active.
• Ricks has played just one snap this season. It was on special teams.